The Lincolnshire Bird Club

This request follows on from some recent postings regarding the likely whereabouts of the early Gyr specimens obtained in the county. I thought I would try and get the ball rolling with this, and as there is no time like the present........

Within various published literature, certain species specimens are noted as being retained in various museums across the country - whether they be skins or mounted specimens. It is perhaps fair to say that the current whereabouts of these specimens in many cases is unknown and it perhaps worth attempting to log and document such significant ornithological historical treasures linked with the counties avifauna. I think this is a valuable exercise and any assistance regarding the likely location of some of these species would be appreciated. It would be a great shame if some of these are lost forever as there are some rather significant records involved.

A glance through some published information (none particularly recent) indicates the following as being retained as museum specimens:

Lincoln Museum (former City and County Museum)

Little Bittern – immature found in a moribund condition at Birchwood, Lincoln on 26th August 1976. Found dead the following day.
Cattle Egret - one said to have been obtained locally was purchased in a sale at Boston about 1865 and eventually presented to the museum.
Ruddy Shelduck - a party of 3 birds seen on the Trent on 20th October 1898. One of these birds was shot and displayed in the museum. The second County record of the species and strong candidates to involve genuine wild vagrants.
Gyrfalcon - an immature female of the Icelandic race shot by Dr. Rainbird at Saxilby in December 1900. The second county record.
Little Crake - a female killed by a dog at Spanby near Threekingham in 1910 and presented to the City and County museum in 1955. The second and last county record of this species.
Black winged Stilt – a bird supposedly obtained at Wainfleet in 1888 present in the museum.
Black Guillemot - one held in the museum which was said to have been shot at Washingborough on 21st January 1899. The first county (and only inland) record.
Yellow billed Cuckoo - one found dead by R Pritchard at Boothby Hall, Welton le Marsh on 30th October 1978. The skin was held in the basement of the Lincolnshire Archives in March 2002. The first county record.
Scops Owl - a specimen held in the museum was said to have been obtained at Dunston in 1895. Potential county first record.
Nutcracker - one killed at Sleaford in March 1833 was recorded by A Fieldsend and preserved in the museum. The first county record.

Louth Museum

Little Bittern – a bird shot at Ludford in the early 1900s and presented to the museum. Third county record.
Great White Egret - one in the museum may have possibly been obtained locally.
White tailed Eagle - an immature shot at North Somercotes on 10th October 1902 and present in Louth museum and labelled as Golden Eagle. Sixth county record.

Grantham Museum

White tailed Eagle – an immature bird obtained at Nocton in January 1732 was in the collection of Grantham museum. The first county record and one of the earliest documented occurrences of a rare bird visiting the county.
Goshawk – a bird shot at Louth in December 1830 and subsequently preserved in Grantham museum. The first county record.
Black-winged Stilt - an undated specimen may have been obtained in the county

King's Lynn Museum

Night Heron – an immature bird present at Skegness Brick Pit from 30th December 1979 until 1st January 1980 was shot on 4th January 1980. It had been ringed as nestling in June 1979 at Belynevka on the Black Sea coast of Russia and was the first British foreign ringed recovery of this species. Retained in King's Lynn museum.

York Museum

Houbara Bustard - A bird shot in a stubble field at Kirton Cliff, near Kirton-in-Lindsey north Lincolnshire on 7th October 1847 was initially thought to be a Little Bustard but on examination was later identified as a Houbara. Further study revealed the bird to be of the former Asian subspecies, C. u. macqueenii, and which has now been split as a full species, Macqueen's Bustard, Chlamydotis macqueenii. . This was the first British (and only Lincolnshire) record of this now endangered species and the specimen was retained in York museum. A photograph of the cased specimen appeared in Birds New to Britain & Ireland 1600-1999 by Phil Palmer.

Doncaster Museum

Little Bustard – A bird shot at Charity Farm near Westwoodside on the Isle of Axholme, prior to 1890 was presented to the Doncaster Museum in 1942. It was thought to be a Balck Grouse/Pheasant hybrid and was recognised in 1977 and described and photographed. The remains are on display in the museum. Third county record.

Birmingham Museum

Alpine Swift – a bird found in a weak condition at Healing near Grimsby on 6th August 1971 later died now retained in the museum.

Chadwick Museum Bolton

Little Bunting - an immature male observed and secured at Saltfleet on 5th October 1951 was presented to the museum. The first county record.

Edinburgh Museum
Two-barred Crossbill - an adult male bird shot at South Cockerington, between Louth and the coast in September 1889. It was noted as being in very good condition and was preserved and later retained in Edinburgh Museum

Miscellaneous
Gyrfalcon – a bird of the Greenland race caught in a trap at Twigmoor in 1826. The specimen was in the Strickland collection and recorded by Cordeaux in 1899. The first county record.


There may way be otheres that members are aware of, and if so it would be great to hear about them. Whilst it is perhaps best concentrating efforts on documented specimens first (at least we have something to work with) it does cross my mind that others could be lurking out there. For example:

- any specimens shot by Haigh. The first British records of Greenish and Radde's Warblers were both circulated around the British Ornithologists Club at the time. Could any be held at Tring?
- A good number of Pallas's Sandgrouse were shot or obtained during invasion years of the latter part of the 19th century – any preserved?
- Parrot Crossbills from autumn/winter 1962/63 or autumn 1982
- Alpine Swift found dead at Seacroft on 2nd May 1987
- White-billed Diver – Tattershall 1996

Any other early records or specimens anyone may be aware of?


Any information or help greatly received!


Matthew

Away from the museums, there must still be a few specimens remaining in private ownership as until relatively recent times, stuffed birds were a common feature of many houses, and were readily available and affordable. Now that a start has been made to the catalogue of examples relevant to Lincolnshire, I can shed some light onto the following birds. Obviously, I cannot list names and addresses here, but I do know the exact whereabouts of some of these specimens.

Spotted Crake:- killed by a road vehicle in Grimoldby, 13th May 1974. I used to have the skin, but I think it may be in Cleethorpes now.
Scops Owl:- found dead at Saltfleetby, 7th April 1977. Mounted specimen in North Somercotes.
Parrot Crossbill:- trapped in exhausted condition and died Tetney 13th October 1962. Skin is in Kent.
Parrot Crossbill:- picked up at Grainthorpe, but killed against a window when released in North Somercotes, 12th October 1982. Skin returned to finder in North Somercotes who has since died.
Roller:- shot Grainthorpe, 13th June 1962. Mounted specimen probably still on Islay following owner's death.
Little Bustard:- shot at Gosberton Cheal, near Spalding, 30th December 1955. Mounted specimen of the western race at an address in the Wolds.
Goshawk:- I have an undated specimen from the collection of L. Watkinson which I believe to be from Lincolnshire, but have no provenance to its wild state.

I don't know of any surviving specimens of Pallas's Sandgrouse from the nineteenth century irruptions. Large numbers were shot in the county, and although most were destined for the table or the game markets, I am certain that Cordeaux and Haigh would have ensured that some were preserved.

Caton Haigh's bird specimens did not fare well over time. After his death in 1941, the condition of the collection deteriorated badly, possibly as a result of poor storage conditions. The late Len Watkinson was able to sift through the collection years afterwards, and despite the presence of some important species, which included a case of no fewer than 13 Yellow-browed Warblers, only a fraction was salvageable. I believe that the reasonable skins were sent to Lincoln Museum. I would have thought that the most significant species such as Lanceolated, Greenish, Arctic and Radde's Warbler would have been submitted to the National Collection shortly after being obtained.

I think if Steve is willing to get in touch with the people noted above, or pass on contact details, we have the possibility here to get photographs at least of these important specimens; I guess contacting Malcolm Oglivie on Islay may shed light on whether the Roller is still around

As a young birder I recall going to the house of the late Harry van den Boss at Goxhill where he had several cases of mounted birds including the last known Goshawk from the nest at Normanby Park, a Stone Curlew shot in Goxhill Marsh in 1953 and others that I failed to remember but I seem to recall a White-tailed Eagle; I fancy most were probably Lincs specimens but on the negative side I have no idea what happened to them when he died and I guess most probably went to auction or into a skip! but as Steve says there may still be others in private collections though the number of dust collecting cases may well now be much fewer than int he 1950's and 60's

Maybe an appeal in local press from the bird club would reveal the odd one -- we could send a photo of a rare bird in a case and a few notes which local press people may find a filler for a column inch or two?

Not that sure that an appeal in the local press would as useful as somebody going on Radio Lincolnshire and talking about this. The newspaper has gone weekly and doesn't seem to read as extensively as it was. The radio is always looking for news-worthy items and surely would be happy to interview somebody who knows what they are talking about

I will try to track down these specimens and their current owners. They do tend to be thrown away when they pass into the hands of non-birders, but I know that some of the above are still around. I'll obtain a photographic record.

This is a promising start and many thanks for the information Steve. There are certainly some significant specimens in that list.

I think it would be useful to start a database on species details, current location and perhaps most importantly (where possible for posterity) some photographic record.

I am starting to make some enquiries with museums and will report back on any findings.

It would certainly be nice to try and keep some momentum going with these investigations so as complete a list as possible can be compiled.

Matthew

The NHM Tring is full of Haigh specimens, I didn't look for those two rare Phylloscs but on my last visit I counted 11 Haigh YBW skins. The White-billed Diver skin is there, Alan Ball deposited it there a few years back.

On top of your list I'd be keen on tracing the Marston Great Snipe skin (if it still exists) and the Caspian Tern from Caythorpe Lincs/Notts...

_________________
Dr Alexander C. Lees
Lecturer in tropical ecology
Manchester Metropolitan University

Lab Associate
Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
Cornell University

http://www.freewebs.com/alexlees/index.htm
@Alexander_Lees

I have received the following responses as a result of my initial enquiries:

From the Yorkshire Museum Trust......

Thank you for your enquiry regarding the Houbara Bustard. We do still have the Houbara Bustard (accession number YORYM : 1999.15) It was donated to the then Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society in 1849 after it was purchased by members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. It is mentioned in Birds In The Yorkshire Museum by Michael Denton 1995 and also in a brief article in the The Naturalist Vol II MDCCC LII Page 89 by Beverley R. Morris where it is accompanied by a painting of the bird.

Many thanks to Stuart Ogilvy at the museum.


Additionally...

Don Stenhouse (Collections Access officer) has checked the database and Zoology store at the Bolton Library and Museum Services and can confirm that they have the Little Bunting specimen from Saltfleet in 1951. He has also very kindly forwarded 4 photographs of the specimen.


Great news on both counts I'm sure you will agree and this is a very positive start in documenting some significant Lincolnshire specimens. I thank Stuart and Don for their time.


My enquiries with other museums are ongoing and based on the post from Alex above I will make enquiries with the NHM at Tring.

If anyone has anything further to add to this thread I would be very interested and grateful for your input.

Matthew

More good news................

With thanks to Bob McGowan, Senior Curator, Birds, at the National Museums Scotland, he has been able to provide details and more importantly confirm the presence of the specimen of Lincolnshire's first Two-barred Crossbill. It is still in very good condition.

I am continuing to collate data and am awaiting responses from various sources both locally and further afield.

Matthew

Just a few notes on my enquiries into the fates of some of the specimens in private collections. Full details and photographs have been submitted for the database, and the following is just a brief update.

Disappointingly, the Scops Owl has been sold on to a buyer who may live in the Boston area. It is fortunate that photographs were taken of the dead bird before it was mounted.

The Roller was also sold a few years ago, but one of the deceased owners' daughters does not know who bought it.

The Parrot Crossbill of 1982 may have been in the possession of the finder, but he died at least 25 years ago and its fate is unknown.

The remaining birds were all traced and documented, namely the Little Bustard, the 1962 Parrot Crossbill, Goshawk and Spotted Crake. I also traced and photographed a Ruddy Shelduck shot at Huttoft in 1983, but this may have originated from the local wildfowl collection.

There is one further point which concerns the Little Bustard. Formerly, there were two races of this species recognized, both of which are recorded in the county, but more recently, the species has been classified as monotypic. Therefore one shot at Addlethorpe on 22nd November 1933 and assigned to the eastern race "orientalis" and the current bird assigned to the western race "tetrax" can no longer be differentiated and their racial distinctions should be deleted from the county records.

In 1980 I stayed one night in a B&B on Newmarket in Louth, the owner was a chap called Jack Richardson who was the former landlord of The Brown Cow Inn, also on Newmarket before it closed for a number of years.

He had the largest private collection of stuffed birds I've ever seen which I recollect included 2 Pallas's Sandgrouse labelled as shot at North Somercotes Warren. Jack died a number of years ago and I'm not sure what happened to his collection although I have a dim memory that it may have been sold at auction. Anyone else from the Louth area have any recollection of this?

Great to see some positive results here. Unfortunately other commitments have precluded me from continuing my investigations as much as I would have liked. I have, however, received some positive news from the NHM at Tring and have made arrangements to visit the skins held there.

About 450 specimens of G.H. Caton Haigh's collection were received by the NHM in 1938. Many of these specimens were collected in Lincolnshire and among them is a female Radde's Warbler, collected 01-10-1898. (First British and County record – and only the second for Europe). In addition (as Alex confirmed) the White-billed Diver from Tattershall, 1996 is also present in the collection.

I am also aware that several of the former Lincoln Museum specimens have also now been documented (including the County's first Nutcracker).

It would appear this has indeed proved to be a productive exercise this far and thanks to those involved for their efforts.

Matthew

Hi Matthew

I spent Friday at Tring and after finishing with taking toe pad samples from antpittas I had a few minutes to rummage around some draws for you, there are Haigh specimens of Radde's, Greenish, Arctic and Lanceolated Warblers (plus all those YBWs previously mentioned). I have voucher images of all these specimens. I had a look at Pallas' Sandgrouse - there was one specimen marked Easington, Lincolnshire, collected by H. B. Hewetson (accession date 29.10.1888) but this is presumably Easington near Spurn (see e.g. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 237c0.html).

cheers

Alex

_________________
Dr Alexander C. Lees
Lecturer in tropical ecology
Manchester Metropolitan University

Lab Associate
Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
Cornell University

http://www.freewebs.com/alexlees/index.htm
@Alexander_Lees

Alex

As I seem to be lacking in free time at the moment to make a visit to Tring, I am very grateful that you took the time to check some of the draws whilst you were there. Thankfully, you have managed to confirm the presence of some very important county specimens (or perhaps bundle of feathers may be a better description in the case of the Lancy?). I guess it is perhaps reasonable to assume there may be some other Haigh specimens lurking in draws at Tring, although as you would hope they are in safe hands with the NHM, there is perhaps not such a rush to get them all documented right away!

It would be useful if details and photographs of those specimens documented by members this far could be collated at a central point for future reference, although where the best place for this is I am open to ideas.

In my view it has certainly been a worthwhile undertaking and has proven that with a little bit of effort all is not lost when tracking down some of the county's avian historical treasures. I for one thought some of these may have been lost forever.

Matthew

Pic of the Lancy skin in the 'old Lincs rarities' album http://www.lincsbirdclub.co.uk/album/di ... ?pid=21343 - would this be an appropriate location to archive images?

Its the latest UK record, although there is one for the 13th Nov (1984-Northumberland Prior's Park, Tynemouth, trapped) so presumably not grounds to question the date/provenance.

cheers

Alex

_________________
Dr Alexander C. Lees
Lecturer in tropical ecology
Manchester Metropolitan University

Lab Associate
Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
Cornell University

http://www.freewebs.com/alexlees/index.htm
@Alexander_Lees